I know we've been screaming this at our TVs since 1999 but this year it is more important than ever to scream "Andy, RUN THE DAMN BALL"!

Just glossing over the surface of things, this is a logical approach. We've got Michael Vick, a QB that flashes brilliance but more often than not looks like an athlete playing the QB spot. He's a guy you can win games with but nobody is going to call 2012 Michael Vick a great QB. True story. Now, the guy lining up behind Michael Vick who goes by the name "LeSean McCoy" is pretty freakin' amazing. Through his first three seasons on the Eagles, LeSean McCoy has been the most productive first three season RB in the entire history of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. He's only 24 years old and he's already been a first team all-pro. Oh and since 2010 he's only amassed the 3rd most TDs and 4th most yards from scrimmage out of any player in the entire league. Long story short, Michael Vick is okay and LeSean McCoy is prodigal.

But things are more complex than that.

I don't know if any of you noticed but we lost some guys in the past year: Jason Peters and Jason Kelce. Now, those guys were pretty freakin' good. If individual seasons could make it in the hall of fame, Jason Peters' 2011 would be in there. And Jason Kelce was widely regarded as one of the top young centers in football and a future star at the position. Who replaces them? Some guys who go by the names of Demetress Bell and Dallas Reynolds. They on the other hand are not so good. As a matter of fact, one could say with 100% certainty that they're downright terrible.

You all saw the triple A gap blitz the Cardinals threw at us, right? You saw that Demetress Bell has had to face Sam Acho and Jason Pierre-Paul and he'll have to face James Harrison, Cliff Avril and John Abraham in the coming weeks if King Dunlap doesn't heal up. How do you slow that sort of thing down? YOU RUN THE DAMN BALL.

Defenses get tired if they're having to chase LeSean McCoy all over the football field. And if teams are having to respect the run, they can't be so aggressive with their blitzes and pass rush. Running the ball helps cover up our offensive line deficiencies.

And in case you haven't noticed, the old adage that running the ball pays of in the second half is ringing true. LeSean McCoy is averaging less than 4 yards per carry in the first half of games and he's averaging more than 5 in the second half. In three of four games, the Eagles have engineered game winning drives in the 4th quarter. Running the ball tires defenses out and puts our offense in a better position to succeed later in the game.

When you run the ball, defenses can't get quite as creative because instead of having the ability to simply throw the kitchen sink at the QB, they have to stay home and pay attention to the RB. All of a sudden safeties are staying home and aren't creeping backwards, linebackers are having to mind their gaps more responsibly and it forces more man to man coverage on the outside because the run forces the defense to play the linebackers and safeties in the box. Now, I'm not sure if you noticed but Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson are two pretty athletic guys who are more than capable of consistently winning one on one battles.

Further, Michael Vick is not Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are special QB types who create their own rhythm in the passing game, they've got an outstanding feel for the game. Michael Vick is not one of those passers. Michael Vick is not a QB who will find his rhythm if you throw the ball 70 times a game, he's the sort of QB who is best when he's eased into the game with a solid running foundation on offense and calculated shots. That's just what Michael Vick does best, especially when he doesn't have Jason Peters and Jason Kelce keeping him clean.

TL;DR version:
Running the ball…:

…is good because LeSean McCoy is good.
…helps hide Demetress Bell and Dallas Reynolds by slowing down the pass rush.
…tires out defenses which has served us well late in games.
…forces defenses to play honest. They have to respect the run game which means linebackers and safeties have to stay home which creates more one on one match-ups on the outside.
…eases Michael Vick into the rhythm of the game which combined with the more honest defense that coordinators are forced to call makes for a much, much better Michael Vick.

And just another bonus note here, our defense has been playing amazingly well thus far. That hasn't been happening in recent years. We don't have to play shootout ball anymore.

Seriously, LeSean McCoy's moves are so nasty he actually broke Kenny Phillips. Just bask in the amazingness that is LeSean McCoy. Bask in it.

Yes, the Eagles need to run the ball. Any team needs to run the ball for a successful offense (see the Patriots in the two Super bowls against the Giants...)

I wish we had a more reliable back-up though. A veteran would have been nice to complement Shady.

If you're Andy Reid, do you risk using McCoy too much early in the season? Is there need to? Yes, you want to win every game, but the truth is, you don't have to. I'm not saying you go out and wave a white flag.

But I think that's a question we need to ask ourselves if we were the coach. Do you use your all-pro RB early in the season? RB is the most dangerous position on the field. Do you risk injury to McCoy just to win in week 2?

That's where I would like to see our backups get some touches, and I think we've seen that. But Bryce Brown is no Shady, and that's something we just have to accept.

But I would have liked to have a veteran at this point who could make some moves that Brown can't._________________

We have the same thing every year, people want Andy to run the ball more.

He's just not going to do it. It's not ingrained into his footballing DNA.

If we ended up with a 60:40 pass:run ratio, I would be happy. Given 60 offensive snaps a game that's 36 passes and 24 runs. Now if a few of those passes turn out to be scrambles then that's a fair balance._________________

We have 3 above average RBs behind Shady. WE NEED TO GET THEM MORE INVOLVED.

Haha, we really don't. I mean you've watched Bryce Brown play this season, right? The guy is averaging 3.3 YPC, can't block a lick, a fumble and a drop. Chris Polk and Dion Lewis haven't even seen snaps on offense this season.

We have 3 above average RBs behind Shady. WE NEED TO GET THEM MORE INVOLVED.

Haha, we really don't. I mean you've watched Bryce Brown play this season, right? The guy is averaging 3.3 YPC, can't block a lick, a fumble and a drop. Chris Polk and Dion Lewis haven't even seen snaps on offense this season.

Dudes a rookie. Give him time. If Polk was Shady's backup. things would be different and we wouldn't have bit our nails to the core back in the Baltimore game when Bryce fumbled. Give Brown some time to develop. In the mean time put in Lewis and Polk. They both have more potential at the moment and know how to better hold onto the ball._________________
Chip Kelly on Sam Bradford: "We didnt bring in Sam to be a trade chip, Im the only Chip here"

RainbowCarebearJoined: 31 Aug 2011Posts: 40370Location: "Are you hungry, child?" Yes, she thought, but not for food.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:50 am Post subject:

oland11 wrote:

Meco wrote:

oland11 wrote:

RainbowCarebear wrote:

Agreed, but I also want the backup RB's involved.

We have 3 above average RBs behind Shady. WE NEED TO GET THEM MORE INVOLVED.

Haha, we really don't. I mean you've watched Bryce Brown play this season, right? The guy is averaging 3.3 YPC, can't block a lick, a fumble and a drop. Chris Polk and Dion Lewis haven't even seen snaps on offense this season.

Dudes a rookie. Give him time. If Polk was Shady's backup. things would be different and we wouldn't have bit our nails to the core back in the Baltimore game when Bryce fumbled. Give Brown some time to develop. In the mean time put in Lewis and Polk. They both have more potential at the moment and know how to better hold onto the ball.

The bolded statement is just wrong. What I think you're saying is that Lewis and Polk is better right now and that would be fair, and how can we judge "they hold onto the ball better" with such a small sample size._________________
Kiltman on the sig

RainbowCarebearJoined: 31 Aug 2011Posts: 40370Location: "Are you hungry, child?" Yes, she thought, but not for food.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:52 am Post subject:

marky_b27 wrote:

We have the same thing every year, people want Andy to run the ball more.

He's just not going to do it. It's not ingrained into his footballing DNA.

If we ended up with a 60:40 pass:run ratio, I would be happy. Given 60 offensive snaps a game that's 36 passes and 24 runs. Now if a few of those passes turn out to be scrambles then that's a fair balance.

It was 53:47, with Vick scrambles in that. I think that's fine. But we can't just go to the "Pass, Pass, Pass" mentality, just because we're behind or it's a close game._________________
Kiltman on the sig

essentially that is all we just need to get Brown involved. In all honesty, in one of those goalline stands I would have liked to see Shady Flanked outwide and Brown in the backfield and then either do a roll out with Vick or let Brown plow it through, which is he is more than capable of_________________

essentially that is all we just need to get Polk involved. In all honesty, in one of those goalline stands I would have liked to see Shady Flanked outwide and Polk in the backfield and then either do a roll out with Vick or let Polk plow it through, which is he is more than capable of

FIFY. But I really want to see what Polk can do. Theres a reason why we kept 4 RBs on the roster this year and we haven't really seen why yet._________________
Chip Kelly on Sam Bradford: "We didnt bring in Sam to be a trade chip, Im the only Chip here"